'Plagiarism' of religious sermon: An unethical conduct

The very first day upon registration for my first degree years ago, we were briefed about the unethical conduct of plagiarism of academic writings. We were strictly told of the dire consequences that we would face should we involve in such act. Though I could not say for sure whether the message was well received by all, but I knew not of any who were caught in the act of plagiarizing the academic work of others. 

And so, I am particularly very upset when upon attending a religious sermon to 'witness' a 'bizarre' plagiarizing act in action. And it was a religious sermon. Such a disgrace and shameful. My heart 'bleeds'. And what makes me feel even more bitter and angrier was the fact that the sermon was supposed to honour the birthday of our Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.). May Allah s.w.t. forgive us all for our lackadaisical attitude in ensuring a good succession of religious 'leaders' among the younger generation.

Frankly, I am not a regular at the mosque myself. But, that does not give me an excuse not to enhance my religious knowledge every now and then. In fact, it is an obligation and becomes more so in this present era in order to help keep our mind and heart 'clear' of the right behavior to adopt based on religious teachings. Fortunately, with the technology that we have now, it makes it even easier to listen to religious sermons every now and then, despite the busy schedule.

So, I have my own 'favourites' among the religious teachers in the country. There are a few. I need not mention names here. But, there is one particular religious teacher who is a bit 'controversial'; i.e especially among the religious teachers themselves. He speaks his mind from the bottom of his heart. Making clear of what is wrong and what is right based on the Holy Quran and Hadiths. And he likes to sing; i.e. from the oldies of the sixties to the Hindi songs to the modern songs of the younger generation. It is his way of making his audience 'glued' to listening to his sermon while at the same time 'stressing' on the important aspect of that religious teachings.

We keep a large collection of his CDs and VCDs at home as his sermons are being recorded and sold. And I am lucky to have a husband who shares similar passion that he will voluntarily make an effort to download more religious sermons from the internet; i.e. of that particular religious teacher and others as well. So, when we are both in the kitchen or even when it is only one of us in the kitchen having breakfast or lunch or dinner or cooking or washing the plates, he will play the recordings so that we could listen to these religious sermons, since having demanding boisterous growing-up children surrounding us in most of their waking hours, having a time of our own is sheer luxury. And what better way to eat than with good words being 'consumed' together with the food.

And so, when I heard a 'replay' of his sermons being unashamedly used and imitated ( almost word by word), from the anecdotes right to the songs being sung by this unethical young man of supposedly coming from an academically-religious background, my heart was pounding hard. Frankly, I do not know who I am angry at more. The speaker, for his unethical conduct or the audience, who simply make themselves so ignorant? What was supposed to be a solemn event for the remembrance of our Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. became an 'entertaining' event filled with meaningless laughs and low-class  unrelated jokes coming from a 'younger' speaker directed to a more mature audience, as again, 'form' takes precedence over  'substance'. I could not help but think, where did they find this 'bogus' speaker in the first place?

Obviously, 'Faith' (i.e. iman and taqwa), is not hereditary; and have we forgotten that our beloved Prophet Muhammads(s.a.w.) was 'illiterate' himself? Thus, it makes it even more important to reread his 'sirah' in this competing knowledge era, which is widely based on paper qualification (i.e a superficial form). The simple fact is that, anything is possible if Allah (s.w.t.) the Most Compassionate, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful wills it. But, I must say, with his skilled imitation, this young man surely is a suitable candidate for our local TV programme : 'Raja Lawak Season 4'.

I am indeed very very angry.

May Allah s.w.t. forgive us all and not take His blessings away from us.

Peace be upon Prophet Muhammad (s.a.w.) the Messenger of Allah s.w.t.